A Shinobi Prototype
by This is not a FanFiction
Summary: Alex J. Mercer was inexplicably bored with his life. He had been alive for far too long with far too little to do, even in this new world he ended up in after the nuke. So saving a little kids life from death wasn't what he had in mind, but giving him the Blacklight Virus definitely would give him something to do for the unforeseeable future. More so since the kid was a jinchuuriki
1. Becoming the Virus

A/N: Just got into the game and am in love with it! So, I thought I might make a super awesome Naruto and how he deals with becoming the Blacklight Virus. Hope you all enjoy~

Key

"Speech"  
_"Thoughts"_**"Demon speech"  
**_**"Demon thoughts"  
**_"Anbu Signing."

* * *

Chapter 1: Becoming the Virus

Alex J. Mercer had long since been nothing more than a memory, if even that. The final explosion had sent him across space and time, or so it seemed given the current situation. As the living embodiment of a biochemical weapon, Mercer no longer needed to eat, sleep, or breathe really, as humans would, for the fact that he was no longer a human, but masquerading as one. It had been decades since he had been deemed the Monster of Manhattan, and longer since he had seen anything resembling the United States of America Alex had once grown up in.

Instead, Mercer found himself in a primitive militaristic country known as the Elemental Nations, comprised of dozens of Nations labeled under several different elements, the four largest being the Land of Fire, Lightning, Sand, and Rock. It was strange, the moment he arrived, when he realized there was no such thing as America, or anything he grew to know, and instead were _Shinobi_, other wise commonly known as Ninja, and Militaristic Leaders known as _Kages_, that could very well be considered dictators since they held the most power in a village.

Mercer hadn't bothered with learning things through books, or talking around, and instead had the lovely luck of having a rouge group of rather violent _shinobi_ attack him. He had laughed when they attacked him, though was inwardly surprised at their speed and strength, only to fully realize after consuming them (which scared the shit out of those who watched the first be "eaten") that it was a technique drilled into them since a young age; around six to be exact. After a few more consumptions, Mercer had a clear understanding of the world he now resided in, and a fluent understanding of the language spoken; which coincidentally, or ironically, was the same language he knew to be Japanese.

He explored the world, traveling to each nation and learning more than any human could ever possibly dream of. He had consumed so many rouge ninja that he had gained the ability to use chakra (the process of unlocking the stuff was beyond painful, but useful in some aspects). He didn't particularly enjoy the use of his purple chakra, since he could do much more damage with his biomass and organic weaponry he had learned to control over the many years he had been "alive".

As fun as traveling the little world he lived in now, Mercer was getting bored fast; and a bored Mercer, meant heads were going to roll for the entertainment value.

The last time, he had been caught by Shinobi from Iwa, or the Village Hidden in the Rock, when he was sick of people coming after him. The massacre that occurred earned him a SS-rank in their bingo book and a flee on sight order. When he recalled the memory off of a later victim, he groaned at the nickname: The Tendril Terror. He hated it so much, he demanded a shinobi he spared to change it to "The Blacklight Virus" which was both the truth and far more fitting that _The Tendril Terror._

Regardless of what the Shinobi did, Mercer simply shifted his body to resemble that of one of his more...plain looking consumptions and walked among the populous without any suspicion from those around him.

Even so, his life was getting dull.

In his bored state, Mercer decided he would head to Konoha, as it was said to be the most "peaceful and accepting" of all the shinobi villages, and thought they deserved a little bit of havoc to balance things out. After centuries, being the psuedo "good guy" no longer appealed to him. Dana was the only thing that kept him...human. The only thing he really had to live for and to love. Once she died, Mercer didn't see much of a point to existing.

Of course, saving a small four-year old boy from an angry mob was _not_ what he had in mind when he walked through the village gates with a somewhat known Merchant's face.

The boy had sun-dipped blonde hair that was noticeable underneath the blood that soaked it, and his eyes, while not screwed shut on his own volition, were a bright sky-blue, and each of his cheeks adorned three whisker like scars that gave the small boy a rather adorable look had it not too been covered in his own blood.

He knew that killing the mob would be idiocy, so instead, he chose to scare the living daylight out of them, and watched with a feral grin as they scrambled away form him and the bleeding child when he transformed his body to resemble more of the Virus than Alex J. Mercer.

Once the entire mob was out of his sight, Mercer turned to the small boy and realized his wounds were too far gone, and he would die soon enough. It was for this very reason that Mercer began to hate humanity. All they did was destroy, kill, and destroy some more. There was, of course, exceptions to the rule, but humanity as a whole was disgusting and selfish in his opinion. He had witnessed the atrocities first hand back in Manhattan, where Gentech literally created the death of millions; where he watched soldiers gun down healthy, un-infected humans simply because they were in the way. And now, he watched a village mob hunt down a four-year old defenceless boy.

It disgusted him to no end.

With a sigh, Mercer thought it would be better to put the child out of his misery when he saw something unimaginable happen before his very eyes.

A red surge of chakra covered the boy and healed his wounds to the point where he no longer held even the slightest bit of scaring. The knife wound to the chest disappeared, as did the burns on his arms and legs.

Mercer stared intently on the child before him. There was nothing he had learned of his entire time here that would explain the cause for the surge of energy, though he did have some idea – the boy was a jiinchurkiki, or a Human Sacrifice that housed one of the nine of the tailed-beasts.

Sending a tendril toward the boy, Mercer got the distinct feeling that this child would be one of the few who could successfully take the Blacklight Virus and assimilate it into his very DNA. He, even though he had the feeling as a Virus would be immortal, could pass down his legacy... this boy could be his legacy.

With a feral grin, Mercer picked up the unconscious child and made his way out of the Village – village that nearly killed this boy wouldn't miss him after all – and raced to one of his many homes in the Elemental Nations, this one being located in none other than a small country known as Wave.

The house was warded severely with hundreds of security seals and the like so that no one would be able to even come near it. He enjoyed solitude and didn't need a pesky human to come by and ask him for something.

Placing the small boy onto the small bed in his two bedroom house, Mercer got straight to it and sent numerous tendrils to the boys body, where they curled around his small form. Rather than breaking down his DNA and consuming him, Mercer sent a push of his own DNA into the boys body and watched, almost gleefully, as the red surge of chakra emerged once again. Rather than fighting his tendrils, the chakra seemed to gravitate toward them, practically basking in their presence before he began to notice the physical change in the small boy.

His hair had darkened a few shades, and become a less of an eye-sore to look at. His small body, which was undoubtedly malnourished and stunted in growth, began to fill out, and grow to an bit larger size for a four-year old boy. He knew that when the boy regained consciousness, he would have much to explain, but he couldn't help but smirk.

_"Now I have something to sate my boredom with."_ he thought to himself as he stared at the Blacklight child. _"I wonder how you will react though, boy. But I will train you and help you in whatever it is you want. Anything's better than sitting here with nothing to do."_

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki thought the day had started out rather well. He woke up to a relatively clean apartment building rather than a trashed one he normally woke up in thanks to the villagers. When he walked over to Ichiraku's Ramen, old man Teuichi had given him a bowl of Miso Ramen free of charge, and when he went to the grocery store for food, he was able to buy semi-rotten vegetables that Hokage-jiji was always telling him to buy.

It was a good day.

At least until the sun went down.

He had been on his way home from a small garden he took care of near the perimeter of the village, which was his secret hide-out and his safe haven that no one knew about, when a couple of drunken villages chased him through the alley ways. Along the way, more people joined and he was soon running for his very life from a mob. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight for the four-year old, as he was chased every so often by them, more often then not waking up in the Hospital the morning after.

But something scared him about these people. They weren't ordinary people...they had headbands on their forehead.

They were shinobi.

Naruto knew he didn't have a high chance of out-running shinobi. He had evaded them on some occasions, sure, but to completely lose them? When they were like this? Not likely.

They eventually cornered him and Naruto prepared himself mentally for the pain. He knew he couldn't do anything to stop them, nor would anyone come to help before he was already unconscious, as that was what always happened. As a four year old child, Naruto didn't have the slightest clue as to why the majority of the villagers hated him for. He hadn't done any pranks or anything bad that would warrant such cruelty onto him...he hadn't done anything to be called a demon nor any reason for him to deserve to die.

He just didn't understand.

As they continued to harm him, Naruto felt his body sink into darkness, the world becoming colder than he had ever known it when he noticed a dark shadow looming over him.

Before he was consumed by the darkness, Naruto saw a red mark on the beings back that resembled angel wings in his blurry visioned state.

Even though he had been unconscious, Naruto knew it had been a very long time since he had last been awake. Something in his bones were telling him that a lot of time had passed, and he simply couldn't explain to himself how he knew. Looking around where he laid, Naruto noticed he was in a simple white walled room decorated simply with a desk, dresser, and bed that he was lying on. It was a room that reminded him of his own home, but much cleaner and without little critters walking on the floor.

Before he could get out of bed, the room door opened and Naruto was met with a tall, odd looking man. He was pale, like he was deathly ill or something while making it look natural, and wore a black jacket over a hoodie that covered the majority of his face with it's shadows as well as pants like he had never seen before. The man looked intimidating, extremely so, but at the same time, Naruto felt he could inexplicably trust the man. As though he would never let any harm come to him, nor would he ever have to worry about the man harming him.

"Good, you're awake now. Go look at yourself before I answer any questions, kid." the man said pointing to another door which Naruto figured led to a bathroom, and more importantly, a mirror.

Doing so without any word, Naruto stared wide-eyed and gaping when he saw his reflection. He was no longer what he remembered looking like. Instead of his sun-kissed blonde hair, it had darkened to a more dirty-blonde while his eyes scared the living daylights out of him. No longer were they the sky-blue he had come to know, instead, he stared at two dark blue eyes with a glowing silver ring at the edges of his pupil.

"WHA-! What happened to me!?" Naruto screamed as he tripped himself and crawled away from the mirror.

"I saved your little life, boy." the man said. "Introductions first: I am Alex J. Mercer, but just call me Mercer, Alex died a long time ago."

"Uh, um, I'm Naruto Uzumaki..." Naruto muttered as he stared at the man who pulled on his arm and brought him to his feet once again.

"Now, let's get to the living room, I don't want to stand in the bathroom and explain this all to you." he said walking out of the small room and into the living room where he sat on a rather comfortable looking chair.

"Sit." Mercer said pointing to the couch that was to the right of the chair.

Without a word, Naruto continued to stare at Mercer as he took his seat, wondering why he was in what appeared to be Mercer's living room, or why the stranger had saved his life. He was hated by everyone, only a few people even liked to talk to him...why would he help?

"Now, I didn't save your life simply because I could." Mercer said bluntly, startling Naruto. "I saved your life by giving you my, I suppose you could call it my Kenkei Genkai, because you seem to be the only one I've met so far that could handle the strain of it assimilating to your body without killing you."

Naruto didn't say a word, and simply stared wide-eyed at the man. He _gave_ him his Kenkei Genkai? How was that possible? And why was he the only one he had met that could "handle the strain"?

"I have a few theories on why that is, but for now, it's irrelevant. I've decided to hand you down my legacy, a power known as the Blacklight Virus. I'll go into the details later once you start showing a growth in your powers, but I need to know something first about you, Naruto. Do you want to grow stronger? To gain the strength to show everyone that you are worth living? To have the power to very possibly change the world?"

Naruto didn't know what to say, but he chose to answer honestly.

"I want to be Hokage...so that the Villager's will respect me, and I'll protect them all!"

Mercer stared at the small four-year old boy with a bored stare. He was enthusiastic for protecting the very people who were out to kill him, something that he was sure was as stupid of an idea as one could get. Protecting those who were out to kill you, yes, they would _very_ much appreciate that.

"Why do you want to protect them?" Mercer asked dully.

"Because, that's what Hokage's do. They protect the Village and the people. I'll protect them and my precious people!" the boy answered again.

"Yet the Villagers are the very people who nearly killed you." Mercer said sharply. "And if it's the Hokage's job to protect the villagers, are you not considered one? Where was he, or his shinobi when you were bleeding to death, Naruto? I'm positive this wasn't the first time. Where they always late? Did they ever truly care for you? Or were they hoping that they got there a _little_ too late to save you?"

Naruto was ready to burst into tears. It wasn't true, the Old Man loved him...he let him call him Jiji and he bought him clothes, and he gave him an apartment when the orphanage kicked him out...not to mention he gave him enough money to buy food and stuff he needed...he cared for him!

But...Mercer had a point. Why did the shinobi ANBU always come late? They were ANBU, they were the best before the Hokage...the answered to him and the Old Man would protect him, right? But...then where was he all those times before? The earliest thing he remembered was running away from people who wanted to hurt him...

"That's what I thought." Mercer said coldly, though the chilling anger was clearly not directed to him, but rather the village and the Hokage.

Noticing the boy was about to cry, Mercer sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be staying with me now, Naruto." he said in a tone that said it was final. "I'll teach you everything about my bloodline, and you'll be the greatest ever seen. If you want, we can go back to Konoha, and I'll talk to the _Hokage_ about officially adopting you or something so no one can interfere with my teaching you, or them taking advantage of my Kenkei Genkai."

"I...I don't want to go back..." the dirty-blonde haired boy whispered, holding back his tears with all his might.

"Then we won't. We're currently in Wave, and we'll be staying here for a while before we travel around. You need to see the world, and it'll provide perfect opportunities to use your Kenkei Genkai once it fully assimilates into your body and you unlock all it's capabilities."

"What are it's ca-capa-that word?" Naruto asked.

"Pronounced Kay-pah-bill-it-tees, and it means all of the stuff you can do with it, basically. It's better if I just show you." Mercer said as he stood up from the chair before standing in front of Naruto a good distance away. He quickly allowed the black tendrils to come over his body and shifted his entire body to his black armor mode, noticing both the shock and slight excitement from the boy. After he shifted his arms into all the transformations capable in quick successions, showing off the long razor claws, muscle mass, whip, sword, hammer fists, shield. By the end of it all, the boy looked pale, but excited.

"That...that's so cool!" he screamed as Mercer shifted back to Alex's form.

"There are more applications with the different transformations, but that'll be explained once you have a clear understanding of the Blacklight Virus. For now, we'll train your physical body. Even though you're naturally stronger, faster, and have amazing stamina, you still need to train."

"Okay." Naruto said determined. "I'll become the greatest ninja that ever lived! I'll protect everybody who needs protecting on my own! I'll become better than any Hokage! I'll make my own village where everyone is accepted!" Naruto screamed with a fist in the air.

Mercer smirked at the boy. He was fully alive unlike him, alive and taking the Blacklight Virus perfectly into his body–he would be a force to be reckoned with once he really got into training the boy. If he made a Village on his own, so be it, that would take a few decades off his immortal boredom, and hell, he might just make this world less hideous than it already was.

"You'll need to train a lot more before you're ready to even take a Genin, boy. No better time to start then now, let's get outside and start with your training. I want you to be at least low-chunin before you unlock the Blacklight."

"Yes, Mercer-san." Naruto agreed nodding his head.

"Good. Let's get started."

* * *

A/N: Yup, so first chapter's up, not too shabby but not great either. Oh wells (yes, I meant to write that), wonder where I'll take this story~ Till whenever this is updated!


	2. To Change

A/N: And so a new chapter! I'm going to be honest when I say that I haven't given much thought onto where I want to take this story, so please just take it as it is. I'm not going for anything extremely realistic here, considering Naruto is now a Blacklight virus child and all. So if you see something in this story that makes you think deeper on how "that is improbable" or the like, ignore it! Just go with the story and enjoy it for what it is! I _will_ try to make situations as believeable as possible, but sometimes I'm sure you'll see something that bothers you (as we all see in stories)

Key

"Speech"  
_"Thoughts"  
_**"Demon speech"  
**_**"Demon thoughts"  
**"Anbu Signing."_

* * *

Chapter 2: To Change

When the morning after Naruto's change came, the small four year old boy felt as though every muscle in his body were frozen, causing him to groan in pain when he forced himself off his new bed. The day before, Mercer had begun his physical training, ordering him to run the perimeter of Wave at a constant speed else wise he would run another lap. Thankfully, he never slowed, and Mercer had him go through exercises that strengthened his core and arms, leaving him to feel akin to jello once the day was over.

One thing that Mercer stressed above all else though, due to his small malnourished body, was to eat _all_ of the food he served for him. When lunch came around, Naruto had never seen so much food available to him before and was actually wondering if it was all for him. When he asked, Mercer just gave a harsh glare out the window and grounded out a 'yes' and to _never_ leave any food on the plate unless he felt he would be sick from eating it.

With what Mercer called his 'shrunken stomach' it would be difficult for him to get the right amount of nutrition in him for a long while, but he urged Naruto to eat as much as he could so that he could begin getting back to proper weight and height for his age.

With a loud groan, Naruto went to stretch his body, completing the moves that Mercer had shown him as well as he could. It took a while, what with his muscles screaming for him to stop, but eventually he felt as though he could move his body without as much pain as he was in before the stretches. Changing into proper clothes that Mercer had bought him the day before, Naruto walked out of his room and into the kitchen where Mercer already had breakfast waiting for him. In all honesty, he missed his orange jumpsuit, but Mercer burned the thing in front of his eyes, saying it was practically screaming 'Assassinate Me!' and he enjoyed the new clothes he had gotten. For one, they were much more comfortable, and they fit him perfectly, unlike the jumpsuit. The only downside was, was that his entire wardrobe consisted of strictly dark colors, and no bright oranges, or the like could be seen.

He knew the day before wasn't a dream, with the pain coursing through his body, but he still could hardly believe that this was his new life. Mercer was helping him get stronger, to be able to protect his precious people who actually care for _him_, and become the greatest shinobi he could possibly ever become. Though he was only a child, Naruto was determined to create his own village with Mercer's help, for all those who had been treated like scum as he had, for all the outcasts, and downtrodden. He wanted to create a village where no matter what your past was, no matter who people say you are, or what you are, you would be welcome with open arms. He wanted to create a _home_ for those who had none.

And he would do everything and anything to make this dream become a reality.

Sitting down at the table with a respectful nod at Mercer, Naruto began to eat as much as he could from the hearty breakfast plate before him. Mercer had scolded for, as well as taught him proper table manners. After the first few words, Naruto forced himself to eat at a suitable pace, letting the food settle in his stomach rather than forcing it down as quickly as possible. Mercer had told him, in an almost soft voice, that food would always be there for him, and no matter what he did, he would never go hungry while under his care.

When Mercer had told him that, Naruto couldn't help but race over to the man and hug him with all his strength. Mercer, of course, stiffened and merely patted his back softly before he pushed him off of his larger frame. Naruto figured that Mercer was like him, an outcast, maybe because of his Kenkei Genkai. When they were out in the forest, Mercer showed Naruto another ability of his new bloodline, and that was 'consuming.' When Mercers tendrils consumed a rabbit completely, the four-year old boy was honestly freaked out, and it was only _after_ Mercer explained it wasn't really _eating_ the organism more than breaking down and absorbing their DNA did he see the perks of 'consuming' animals and other things. He _would_ refrain from 'consuming' people...as Mercer explained was possible, since the person had to be alive in order for him to consume them - at least in the beginning - until he was older, and only to people who were criminals and doing everything they could to cause harm to others simply because they could.

After his breakfast was finished, Mercer brought him back outside to continue his training. He never complained, and followed everything Mercer commanded him to do to the letter, only asking questions when he didn't understand something. After the fifth question he asked to clarify a word Mercer had said, the older man sighed and rubbed his head.

"Okay, new plan from now on." He said sounding exasperated, "Every day after training, I'm sending you to a tutor so that you can learn how to red and write properly, as well as Math, History, and other subjects you'll need. I _could_ teach it to you," he admitted, "but I do have other things that require my attention during the day other than you."

Naruto's eyes widened a bit, and smiled happily. "Thank you, Mercer-san. I promise not to let you down!"

Mercer grunted lightly and merely nodded his head. "Don't add the -san, just Mercer, and good. Now, get back to it."

* * *

Once training was over, leaving Naruto dripping in his own sweat, Mercer brought him to the public baths, telling him to get cleaned up and dressed in fresh clothes since they were going to go to see about getting him a tutor. Before he had explained that because his 'Kenkei Genkai' was still inactive, he would be dealing with sweat and

The bath was, of course, divided into the men and women areas, and therefore slightly on the smaller side given the population of Wave, but Naruto thought it was the biggest bath he had ever seen. He _had_ tried to get into Konoha's public baths, but the moment he walked through the front door, the woman, or man at the front desk immediately kicked him out for being a "demon" or "freak".

Smiling happily, Naruto dropped into the water, welcoming it's warmth before he began to completely wash himself down. He could see that a few of the men were giving him funny looks, but he didn't care, he was going to enjoy this as much as he could in the short time he would be there. Mercer, after all, wasn't particularly patient and would want to leave as soon as possible.

As he was leaving, a tall man came over to him and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing here all alone?" he asked in a concerned voice that was completely foreign to Naruto.

"Mercer-san said that I needed to take a bath, 'cause he wants me to be clean to see my tu..umm...tu-tor." Naruto answered politely.

The man blinked a few times, before he said, "Is Mercer-san your guardian?"

Nodding, Naruto began walking away, "I needa go, I don't wanna make him wait any more."

The man caught hold of his shoulder and said, "Hold on, Kid. I'll walk with you to him. I think I should talk to him about leaving you here all alone."

Naruto didn't completely understand why this man wanted to follow him to Mercer-san, he didn't do anything bad, and the man didn't feel like those other people who had hurt him did. He felt soft and welcoming, like a teddy bear so he merely nodded.

Leading the way out of the public bath, Naruto walked up to Mercer-san who was waiting patiently outside in his usual outfit, his hood covering his head and shadowing his face.

"Good, you're finally out." Mercer said with a nod. "Who are you?"

The man straightened his posture and looked at Mercer with a disapproving glare. "I just wanted to ask why you thought it prudent to leave a three-year old alone in the public bathhouse. He could have easily drowned!"

"I'm four!" Naruto defended adamantly, not liking that he thought he was a three year old baby. "And I know how to swim!"

Mercer gave a glance at Naruto before turning back to the man and motioning toward the boy. "See, he was fine. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a few things we must get to." Without bothering to listen to the man's next words, Mercer turned and walked down the path toward the house he had in mind before he really noticed that the man was following them.

With an annoyed grunt, Mercer turned and asked, "Is there a _reason_ you're following us?"

The man gave an annoyed huff and answered, "I live over here, I was just trying to get home, not follow you two."

With a small roll of his eyes, Mercer turned back and continued on his way to a modestly sized house and knocked on the door before the man that had been "going the same direction," placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Why are you knocking on the door to _my _house?" he asked truly curious.

Mercer inwardly groaned. Of _course_ this man had to be the husband, or brother, or s_omething,_ to the woman he had planned to ask to tutor Naruto. She was the only person in the entire town who had the qualifications of tutoring Naruto, as she had been a teacher before she got married and thus stopped teaching at the local school. He didn't want to send Naruto there, as they could be moving to the next town in a moment notice and pulling him out after filing paperwork to keep him there would be troublesome and time consuming.

"I am here looking for Tsunami to ask if she would like to be hired as a tutor for Naruto here." Mercer asked just as the woman he had been looking for opened the door and stared at the trio standing outside.

"Oh, Tamotsu, welcome home." said Tsunami who, unlike the last time Mercer had seen her in the town, had a swelled stomach that made him believe she would go into labor any second.

Naruto stared at the pregnant woman, who was a rather beautiful in his opinion, as she stared at the three of them. He couldn't help but wonder, in his child-like curiosity, how she managed to walk right with such a swelled stomach. He knew what having a swelled stomach meant for a woman, of course, having been beaten up by civilians for even getting near a pregnant woman one or two times back in Konoha. After all, the "demon" couldn't be allowed to taint the child she carried inside her.

As for the _how..._that still eluded him.

Shaking his head from irrelevant thoughts, Naruto turned to Mercer, who turned to Tsunami and completely ignored the man, Tamotsu, and asked after taking his hood down, "Tsunami-san, I humbly ask for you to tutor my ward, Naruto, in basic language, writing, and mathematics if you could." with a bowed head. He might not _like_ to be polite, but he certainly knew how.

Tsunami looked at Mercer, head bowed, then down to the incredibly small boy at his side, his eyes wide with something that she hadn't thought to see in a child after such a request: hope. Any child, at least the ones she had come to know, would be rebelling at the thought of being stuck inside learning how to read and write, and yet this small boy was both in awe that this man asked, and hopeful she would accept.

She gave a pleading look to her husband who looked both shocked and annoyed at the man that had asked. It looked as though he were about to deny his request before he looked into his pregnant wife's eyes and knew he had lost.

With a scarcely audible sigh, Tamotsu nodded and Tsunami said, "I would be delighted. Why don't you three come in and I'll served lunch?"

Naruto had a bounce in his step when he walked into the house after Tsunami. He had never met anyone, other than Mercer so far, that hadn't hated him outright. Even though he knew that the Old Man Hokage cared for him, he had caught a few hateful glances his way...but this woman smiled at him, agreed to teach him things he knew people back at Konoha wouldn't, and offered him food.

He knew he would come to like her easily enough.

Tamotsu gave a warning glare Mercer's way before he motioned for the pale man to go inside and shortly followed after him. With a small motion of the hand, Tamotsu lead the two strangers into the dining room to sit down, close enough for Tsunami to hear what they were saying and add her own opinion to the conversation while she cooked.

"I am Mercer Alex." Mercer said with a small nod of his head, "This is my ward, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hello." Naruto said with a shy smile and a small wave of his hand.

"It's...nice... to meet you." Tamotsu said unsure whether or not it _was_ nice to meet Mercer-san.

"So, when were you hoping I'd start tutoring him?" Tsunami asked as she cooked in the kitchen.

"If possible, tomorrow afternoon. I'll buy all of the necessary items for you to help teach him, so there is no worry there. I am willing to pay you hourly, however much you believe you should be paid reasonably, and it is dependent on you on how many hours you would like to teach him each day, and on what days. Both of us will accommodate you in any way we can." Mercer said sincerely. He could work around a schedule, as he technically didn't need to sleep or even eat all that much and could do everything else in the other hours of the day, and Naruto was just a four year old kid who didn't have any other obligations other than training and now tutoring sessions.

Tsunami looked pleased at that, and said, "I can teach him everyday for about three hours. Any longer than that and I fear Naruto would begin to loathe it." her smile was amused as she said this, "I suppose the mornings would be best, from about nine to noon would be perfect as you and I have the rest of the day to go about our business. The pay, I would say a mere 800 ryo would suffice per hour. It's the starting wage at any employment around here. Would that be fine?"

Mercer nodded as she walked toward the table with lunch in her hands. It wasn't spectacularly made, or flamboyant, but rather a simple chicken stir-fry over white rice. Thanking her for the food, they all began to eat a pleasant enough lunch, though Tamotsu seemed to want to say something about the pair.

"Nee, Tsunami-san," Naruto began between his bites, "when are you having your baby?"

Tsunami smiled brilliantly and rubbed her stomach affectionately, giving a loving glace to her husband. "I'm due in a few weeks, but don't worry, I promise to tutor you even with him or her, after all, I have Tamotsu to help me so we should be fine."

Tamotsu smiled at his wife and placed his large hand over her swelled stomach and said, "I'll help in every way I can."

Before any one could say anything else, a loud booming voice broke through the house. "I'm home!"

"Otou-san, we're in the dining room." came Tsunami's voice before the entire room looked at an older man with greying hair and wearing a straw hat on his head as he walked into the room.

"Ah, guests, who might you two be?" Tsunami's father asked, taking a swig from a canteen he had that, from the smell, contained sake or some other form of alcohol.

"I am Mercer Alex, and this is my ward, Uzumaki Naruto." Mercer replied blandly.

"Hello." Naruto said shyly, wrinkling his nose at the smell of the alcohol.

"Otou-san, sit down and eat, I'll prepare a bowl for you." Tsunami said as she stood up from her seated position with some help from Tamotsu.

"Yeah, thanks Tsunami." the man said as he sat down. "Name's Tazuna."

"Pleasure, I'm sure." Mercer said politely, though inwardly he wanted to get away from the smell. "Thank you for lunch Tsunami-san, but I believe it is time for us to be leaving."

Tsunami walked back in from the kitchen, placing a bowl of steaming food in front of her father before saying, "Oh alright, I will see you tomorrow for your first session, okay Naruto?"

"Hai, Tsunami-sensei!" Naruto said with a bright wide smile.

"I'll walk you out." Tamotsu added as he stood up. As they reached the door, Tamotsu said, "We'll see you tomorrow morning, but please be a _little_ more responsible with the kid? You can't just go about leaving him on his own like you did earlier."

Mercer stared blandly at the man in front of him and replied, "Naruto is more than capable of taking care of a few simple tasks on his own. To coddle him would hinder his growth."

Tamotsu shook his head, knowing that it wasn't his place to say any more on how this man should raise a child, regardless of how he felt. After closing the door after them, both Mercer and Naruto went to the shopping district, where Mercer needed to buy the supplies necessary for Naruto's tutoring sessions. For now, anything Tsunami could provide would be more than enough for now. When he got older, Mercer would find someone more adept at advance teachings and send him to whoever they might be, whilst continuing his training.

The shopping trip was quick enough, as there was a single store that held everything he would need during Naruto's tutoring sessions. When they returned home, Naruto got the courage to reach for Mercer's hand and caught hold of it, the way he had seen lots of kids do with their parents or older brothers. When Mercer looked down at the clasped hand in his own, Naruto feared that Mercer would pull his own away. Instead, the pale man merely looked in his eyes and huffed lightly, but allowed Naruto's hand to remain in his own.

With an incredibly bright, over-joyed smile, Naruto held onto Mercer's hand tighter. He had always wanted to be able to walk hand-in-hand with someone like this. He had never got the courage to do so with Hokage-jiji because of those few pained glances he had sent his way, nor did he have anyone else he could possibly try this with.

Mercer was slightly annoyed at the blonde brat as he held onto his hand, but didn't pull away. It wasn't so great a bother to take his hand from Naruto's smaller, and it provided the means to know that the kid was at his side and didn't wander off and cause him to waste time to find him. So he had allowed him to keep hold and continued to walk to his home.

As much as Mercer wanted to deny it, he had an itching feeling that this little kid would change this primitive world, and he'd be damned if he was going to miss it.

* * *

A/N: I don't remember what the currency in Naruto is, but I think it was Ryo, and even if it's not, well, I'm keeping it. And to keep everything simple...

100 ryo = 100 yen = roughly $1 = .77 euro

Maaa, writers block-ish...sorry.


End file.
